Interview with Scott Rouse, Chris Perkins & Bill Slavicsek

[ScotMartin]

Thanks to those who've said nice things about my previous post with the list of ideas. I appreciate it.

However, I definitely left something important out that a couple of other users have brought up since... feedback/collaboration from the user community.

When it comes to the rules and stats of this game, there is no better editor for an article or adventure than the on-line community. As evidence of this, I present this excellent review of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft posted by John Cooper (scroll a quarter of the way in to see his bullet point list of stat block errors):
http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3221768

Obviously, I'd love everything to be accurate when first put up, but that's not realistic. And, as others have said, a huge advantage of on-line content over print is the ability to correct and update the content later on. There needs to be a way for users to leave this kind of feedback, and there has to be someone in WotC who will read it, double-check it and then act upon it.

-Scot

 

[freyar]

...stuff like, oh, say, lurking? I didn't get my screen name by chance!

Since you're posting now, do you have to change your screen name?

I know other people have said this (and so have I even), but I don't think it can be stressed enough that the service should be inexpensive and that you should be able to keep what you've paid for. And that what's free now shouldn't go away! Thanks for listening!

 

[LeaderDesslok]

Regarding my comment about direct answers and the lack thereof about the co-existence of Dragon/Dungeon and the DI...

You're right: that really wasn't an answer. We can't discuss that right now.

However, I think they wanted to find a way to tell folks that printed products are not going away because of the DI and this seemed like a good place to throw that in.

I like you.

Seriously, that's cool with me. Business decisions can stay in-house, I'm more concerned with the lack of examples of upcoming content. Sure, there will be stuff that is like the content in Dungeon and Dragon, but what else? You (meaning WotC) say there'll be more than that in the DI, but give absolutely nothing as evidence of that.

Assuming that nothing can be revealed yet, I'd at least like a kind of framework for when new info and hints will be dropped to us. It's been a week now and we know nothing more about the content than we did last week.

Congrats on the future gamer. Watch how you play, you're gaming for two now.

 

[Kerrick]

9. Collaboration. Let everyone rate, comment, and tag the content, free and paid. Don't succumb to the temptation of saying "oh, they might rate some article bad then no one will buy it." It's valuable feedback for you, and people with money to spend will get something else as long as there's enough content available.

...

11. Super cross-referencing. Another poster already mentioned this - if I look at "ghoul", I want to see its entry, its picture, updated errata, relevant rules and relevant rulings, references to ghouls in products I own (adventures prominently featuring ghouls, etc.) AND references in products I don't own. That's your hook to cross-sell. Discussions tagged with "ghoul" from the forums. Pictures tagged with "ghoul".

This sounds a lot like the OGC wiki idea people keep bringing up every six months or so. I think it'd be a great way to go, too - not the OGC part, but the wiki part. Our site is on a wiki, and while I HATE wikicode, I really like the ease of use - it's a lot easier to maintain than a normal website. Plus, wikis allow for comments to be posted on individual pages, so people can provide feedback.

 

[Hussar]

Tracking serial numbers isn't that difficult. It's just a database, it wouldn't be much different than video games.

The mail in thing would definitely have to be prepaid postage! I can't afford 39 cents when I'm spending $100 a month on books!

As for stealing, they could seal the books (or just part of the book?). My FLGS seals a lot of stuff, but if you want to browse anything in the store, they'll break the seal (and reseal it if you don't buy it).

Bottom line, I actually WANT WotC to know how much money I'm spending on their products, and in turn want to be treated like a valued customer.

The problem with mail in cards is there are a large number of gamers that aren't in the USA. It's not exactly 39 cents for me to mail a letter from Japan. Agreed, not a big price difference, but, still more. The big beef from me would be the lag time. It takes about a month or so for mail to go from Japan to the States. That would mean that I have to wait about a month after I bought any book to get online access. That would annoy me.

Plus, what would happen if the letter was undelivered?

As far as people pirating what's on the DI, I really don't think that's a huge problem. Despite the fact that you can get any WOTC book for free about two days after it's released, they still continue to sell. How likely is it that people will spend 10 bucks a month just to pirate it away for free when they can simply wait for the PtP site of their chose?

A simple way would be to have a peelable sticker inside the cover of every book with the serial number printed underneath. It certainly works for most online games like Counter Strike or Halo. I can't imagine something like that would add much cost.

 

[Wye]

Commenting about lurkinglidda...

I like you.

I second that.

You are here, and you are just saying it as it is, or saying that you can't say it; no "excitement", "exciting", "really excited", "almost having an orgasm" PR pepper being sprinkled on a plate we cannot see.

At this point I don't think I'm part of WotC business plan anymore (and when I look at my shelves of books and magazines I don't understand why), but your vibe is nice to have around.

 

[labyrinth]

This was by no stretch of the imagination "astoundingly open" and nothing people are asking about is subject to scrutiny from regulators.

I've done exactly this sort of interview before and I would have included what I said in my first post: A logo, a bullet point list of some intended (but not promised) features and a piece of art relating to one that's essentially a lock.

If they don't have those three items, they're in a lot of trouble. I am confident they have all those available and could -- and should -- have shown them.

WotC has some very bright people, so I find it very hard to believe that they would not have recognized exactly what you outlined they should have done. That means they should have done so. They didn't, which leads to me to believe they may very well be in the deep trouble you mention. Combine this with the fact that they are just now starting to hire people for the DI, and it's very difficult to share your confidence about the current state of things within WotC regarding a cohesive vision for DI and having made substantial progress towards that vision (i.e. progress that would enable even a preview release in 2007). I hope I'm wrong, but the evidence thus far suggests otherwise.

 

[Scott_Rouse]

Drinking from the firehose.

Wow I go a way for 24 hours and holy crap! Thanks for all the great comments.

One observation: Gamers spend a lot of time reading on the bus and/or the toilet. Some may be in prison. :\


Lidda and I are here, we are trying to read everything (as are a few WOTC lurkers). We can't say a hell of a lot right now. We are NDA'd 8 ways until Sunday and there are just things we can't discuss. We will try to answer when posible and avoid the using the vague jibba jabba. This is largely on our own time as we have a lot of day to day stuff to do (unless you want us to stop making games haha) so it may be sporadic and we likely wont get into indivual conversations. But we really like the interaction and will do our best pop a beer (just me not Lidda), sit on the couch, and come in, hang out, and chat.

So a few things i've thought about:

Hasbro stays out of our day to day business of operating the D&D brand. We report up stuff like revenue but when it comes down to micro management (review of a book or miniature etc) that doesn't happen. They largely take the "if it's not broke don't fix it role". So why tell you this? They aren't selling D&D or worried that it isn't (and needs to be) WoW. D&D fills a very nice niche that very few other brands can deliver. D&D is stronger than ever. The success of D&D is due in large part to everyone on this site (and fans alike everywhere).

People ask "were you expecting the reaction you got about the Paizo announcement?" Yes we pretty much knew people would be PO'd although it is not always easy to gauge the level of an "expected" reaction. That being said, yeah it sucks to be getting your butt chewed off on the boards but at least people care enough to complain. Not to sound crass, but in certain respects the day fans stop complaining is the day I pack up my desk beacuse it means people no longer care. It's easy to armchair QB the PR but the only thing I would have changed not letting this situation be the thing that finally got me out of lurkerdom and into posterville.

Contrary to the popular belief I have seen on the boards, Hasbro is a great company to work for. I don't mean to sound like a corporate stooge but they treat their employees pretty darn well. They are also really philanthropic, for example they do a ton for underprivledged kids and the troops (we just sent a huge package of games to Ziggurat con in Iraq). This is not Enron or even Exxon, those companies don't make D&D.

Again NDA'd up the wazzo but the Paizo thing went down the way we called it in the inetrview, I was in most of the meetings. They asked us for a date, we discussed a bit, and mutually agreed to a plan. The timing was as we said, this planned well in advance. We knew they would slingshot off the announcement to promote a new product (Pathfinder) and our goal was to stay out of the way for a while and pretty much be the silent meat shield. They needed the timing to be as it was to take advantage of GAMA and face to face discussions with retailers, notify their newsstand and other distributors , and give subscribers and readers a chance to decide what to do with any residual subscription money. I truely wish them all the success with Pathfinder and look forward to working with them in the future. Lisa, Erik, Jason, James, Wil, Pierce, Sean and the other folks there are awesome.

Paper is not going away. We have a product plan that goes out years (look we've already announced products through the end of 2007) and we are working on '08 stuff right now. We plan a long way out. We've got an idea of products that go out 5 years and further. There is a ton of paper products (and plastic) on the plan. Table top roleplaying is at the heart of the brand and as Bill said we are not changing that.

As I've said we plan a long way out on everything. For example my team is already working on marketing plans for 2008. We've done most of the product development and initial sell in on all titles through the end of '07. Unless an asteroid hits Renton we largely know how the year will turn out. That being said we have a plan for the online stuff. Work is in progress. Based on what I am reading I think most will be very happy. That being said we still have enough fluidity to incorporate feedback so keep it coming

I like the fire hose.

 

[Khairn]

Unfortunately, those of us who feel that way are apparently in the minority. We don't matter to WotC anymore. My beef is not with the idea of DI, it's the idea of DI at the expense of print magazines. That's why Paizo still counts me as a customer (with Pathfinder) and WotC doesn't (with DI)

Ghendar, it looks like you, me, Wye and a bunch of others are all in the same boat. Nothing WotC is saying shows that they are targeting us as part of their new marketing strategy. Its a shame that it took all the yelling and screaming over the past week to finally get someone from WotC to tell us, but I'm glad they did.

Scott and lurkinglidda, I'm glad you guys are finally here. I hope you stay and participate for a long time. Don't let it take another fiasco to bring you out.

 

[Dnjscott]

I like the fire hose.

Heh. You should go see your WOTC board thread.

It is nice of you to try to make the uphill slog, though. I must admit. I'm skeptical about this whole thing for a lot of reasons, but it's really nice to see you guys try. Well, maybe :\